Tim O'Brien Response

Tim O’Brien Response

I really wanted to be creative for this post, and I decided to attempt writing poetry, after the Poetry of Witness assignment a little light bulb in my head went off and realized that it was not a daunting of a concept as I thought.

What is the point?

The mood is dark and so are the soldiers.

Carrying baggage of equipment and shame,

Shame…brought from not bringing home fellow heroes.

Or shame from trying to avoid going.

Fighting a war of politics and gain

Leaving behind their innocence

Innocence they will never see again,

 Witnessing what they did changed them forever

Coming home empty shell: but heroes none the less.

The endless marches with no purpose besides moving,

But giving them time to contemplate what they have lost.

Left to live with memories of, gore, violence and ghosts.

Still with no idea of the purpose or knowledge as to why they lost their

innocence.

Link below to the time-line and analysis of the Vietnam War.

Vietnam 

Analysis of “Photograph from September 11” by Wislawa Szymborska

Analysis of “Photograph from September 11” by Wislawa    Szymborska

            September 11, 2001 will be a date synonymous to everyone as the day the world as we know it changed for our generation and future generations. In Wislawa Szymborska’s poem ‘Photograph From September 11” she describes the emotions of just one horrific aspect of that day and has the reader remember the feelings they felt watching those poor people fall from the Twin Towers.

            The simplicity of the poem is very engaging in that it is an event that everyone has a memory of in our generation, such as I am sure poetry wrote about the Vietnam War and World War II would have been a strong memory for people in those times. What I found appealing about the poem was that out of all the terrible events of that day she focused the poem on just one aspect of that day, and the one aspect people steered away from talking about. The images of people jumping from the World Trade Towers in New York was an image that everyone saw when they turned on their television that day and it was such a horrific thing to see that it really is one that no one will ever forget. Wislawa’s poem is so moving that it takes the person reading back to that day, her description of watching them fall and her narrative of what they must have been thinking during that fall.

            I felt Szymborska was saying the images from television and photographs taken off these poor people falling has some how immortalized them in time. That they will remain that way, falling through the air stuck for eternity. The following lines I think describe this: 

“The photograph halted them in life,

and now keeps them   

above the earth toward the earth.” (4-6)

The interpretation and overall tone of the poem suggests that we as a society halted that day and we became like the people in the fall, halted in time on that day for eternity. From her description of the fall it was that the amount of time elapsed during the fall may have been short in reality but to them must have felt like an eternity to them and us watching:

“There’s enough time

for hair to come loose,

for keys and coins

to fall from pockets.” (10-13)

 With time to see the earth below them approaching and for personal possessions to come loose which I thought could be a metaphor for them being stripped of personal possession to be bare and exposed to everyone and powerless to prevent it, which in a way was how we were as a western culture that day. During that fall the day to day feelings of how we look to others and our personal dignity and opinions of others play such an important role, but that day stripped everyone of that people found solace and peace in the arms of total strangers; everyone felt the same pain yet no one could describe it or hide from it.

I was not living in America on that dreadful day but the emotions of that day were felt by everyone world wide, and that is why I think this poem touched me as it took me back to home in Australia. Remembering turning on the television and that image of people falling being the first thing we saw and just the shock of it is something I will never forget. I believe that was Szymborska’s purpose with this poem, so we don’t forget what happened and to just take a moment and try to just wrap your mind around what they must have felt during that fall.

I thought the final lines of the poem were very touching and she shows her own feelings of hopelessness even as she writes the poem:

“I can do only two things for them—

describe this flight

and not add a last line.”(17- 19 )

From these last lines I feel she is trying to pay respect without describing how it ultimately ended for them. Like many that day her use of desperation in her words, mirrors how we felt, there was nothing we could do or say that was going to make the situation change or relieve the pain for the families who had lost loved ones. The use of the word “flight” is interesting; could it possible our (as in Western culture) flight of the end of feelings of being an impervious society?  I found ‘Photograph From September 11’ touching and relative to the times of turmoil we are in right now as a country and for this to be wrote by a fellow non-American I found I could relate better as I know how much it not only affected Americans on that day but everyone world wide felt the same loss, pain and heartache. As Wislawa says “They’re still within air’s reach” (14), those images will stay within reach to us for us to remember what happened that day and the lives lost but also remind us we are not invulnerable.

Work cited

Szymborska, Wislawa, “Photograph from September 11” from Monologue of a Dog. 2005. Sep 12.2010.Web.www.poetryfoundation.org

 Photograph from September 11, Wislawa Szymborska

The Sand Storm: Stories from the Front by Sean Huze

Is it worth the sacrifice?          

            After reading Sean Huze’s play “The Sand Storm: Stories from the Front” I can not think of another piece of writing that has given me such a roller coaster of emotions. Reading a piece of literature such as this on a topic so relevant and sensitive to the American society, I think gives me more of a unique position as I can be a little more open minded with it since not having as many preconceived notions on the conflict and politics behind it as most Americans were subjected to after 9/11.

To be honest I did have to read the play twice, the first time to make a list of all the military jargon, so I could look up the meaning of all the acronyms. Never being exposed to any military talk prior I genuinely wanted to learn, so I could easily understand what Sean Huze was trying to convey to his play. After familiarizing myself with the lingo, I proceeded to re-read the play. The second time made the story even more addicting and engrossing than the first.

The rawness and “in your face “ brutality of the story was a fact that we as “civilians” rarely experience first hand, but this story makes one  think you are right there with the marines. Huze expressed just how all the men in his company find their experiences from Iraq, when asked to talk about them quite hazy or a blur. I could not help but ponder if this were due to, if they got down to the brass tacks of what happened to them and how it made them feel and still does then it would be just too much for them to take. He describes the climate and living conditions of Iraq in such vivid detail that I can almost feel the sweat dropping down my face, “I felt like a chicken pot pie in a microwave.” (Huze 7)

Each war in our history has always had a similar tale in that we are sending our children to fight a gown-up or political agenda war. So this certainly hits home when one reads "The Sand Storm".  You realize that the oldest of the outfit is just 27 years old, and the youngest just 18, and these poor young men/children have to spend the rest of their life with memories and mental images.

The war on terror has been and will continue to be a political hot button issue. Sean Huze gives the view from the marines themselves, stripped of all political agenda and gain. The play makes comments and references to politicians and outspoken activists, such as Michael Moore.

Huze quotes in his play a now famous speech made by President George W. Bush, “The question we need to ask ourselves, ‘Is the sacrifice worth it?’” (22). This left me thinking after reading that, if you asked these marines when they returned if they thought the sacrifice was worth it. What would they say?  More importantly ask the wives, mothers, fathers and children of the brave who never came home; did they think the sacrifice of their loved one was worth it?

The following link is to the address given by President George W. Bush to a joint session of congress on the 9/11 attacks:President George W. Bush speech

Rite of Passage & The Colonel

Rite of Passage & The Colonel

The two poems I choice to study from the “Poetry of witness” list was first Sharon Olds, Rites of Passage, and the second were Carolyn Forche`, The Colonel. I find it hard to get some connection to a poem I read and often have to read them several times. I find I struggle with what the author is trying to portray.
I connected to Rites of Passage solely due to it reminds me of when my daughters have their annual birthday slumber parties. The way Sharon Olds describes the child full banter back and forth between them is not only on point but funny like she describes in the following lines: “……… they stand around jostling, jockeying for place, small fights breaking out and calming.” (5-7), having seen first hand how little kids interact and a pack like mentality develops within them when together in a party setting, I think she captures that well in her poem. Her description of the little boys and the correlation between them and Army Generals was terrifically funny: “they relax and get down to playing war, celebrating my son’s life.” (25-26). It was amusing to see that little boys are just the same as young girls at birthday parties just minus the “bling” and make-up.
The following poem I read and also had the most tribulations with was Carolyn Forche`- The Colonel. The gruesome details and descriptions did not bother me such as “He spilled many human ears on the table. They were like dried peach halves.” (22-23), I think her bare bones description of such an event made it somehow more believable. I guess what or who this guy was I had most problems with understanding, obviously his house was like any other but, he was far from normal, from the description of the wife as a “maid” and the serving of the mango's and salt I believe this is a house in Mexico and a home of a member of the Mexican Cartel. So I guess I'm left asking myself are these visitors at the table guests or his next targets for his brutality?
The poem begins with; “What you have heard is true. I was in his house.” (1), this man must have been a well known drug lord of sorts and the one thing that struck me the most was how her use of description could undoubtedly make anyone think your are sat at that table with them. Almost as if you also had that experience, wonderfully wrote, and I think I will certainly look into more of her poetry.


Work cited

Olds,Sharon,“Rites of Passage” from Strike Sparks, Selected Poems 1980-2002. Alfred A. Knopf, 2004.

Forche`,Carolyn,“The Colonel” from The Country Between us.Forche,Carolyn, 1978.

Link to another poem by Carolyn Forche`:
The Visitor by Carolyn Forche`

Hamil Response

Response to Sam Hammil’s Essay

It is obvious from reading this essay Sam Hammil had far from a picture perfect childhood and this has evidently clouded his ideas of society and the human race. A social activist especially against the Vietnam War as half of the world was in that time, he turned to poetry as a release and a way to communicate to his audience of readers, teaching at different institutions from schools to prisons expressing the need for people to communicate through words not war.

A Poet’s work: The other side of Poetry (1990) was an essay he wrote about he feels as a society we are communicating less and are destroying our self with violence. Ultimately we choice what we hear and we choice what we want to believe and what we perceive as reality. He makes note that “writing is a form of human communication expressing ideas…” this is true as it is often easier for people to communicate and express themselves on paper then having to look someone in the eye. We don’t fear we will say the wrong thing when we commit it to paper. Expression will flow easier without the threat of verbal reprimand and disagreement.

He touches on the concept of nature vs. nurture in a round-about way, every culture not just American accept violence as a “norm” to a certain extent, we are the only species on this planet that kills each other without a purpose or a fundamental need for survival, could this be why we are at the top of the food chain? A good way to judge ourselves as a society is to just look at what women are taught in self-defense classes, if you are being attacked by a man never cry out rape but cry out fire instead. This is a sad state of affairs that this is what our society has resorted to, no one is willing to help a “fellow man” but is more than happy to stand by and watch a building burn to the ground.

Poetry like creative writing is a way to express pain, happiness, sorrow and any other emotion, as Hammil describes, poetry is more frowned upon in society than a essay or novel but when broken down the concept and point being portrayed by the author is no different. He quotes Gary Snyder as saying “I write to find out what’s on my mind”; I also do the same and find the process of writing very therapeutic. Now Poetry may not be a “physical touch” parse but it is a touch none the less and can create a wealth of emotion in the reader.

Hammil goes into depth about war, military and what we are becoming as a human race, I feel we reap what we sew and our children will learn by example. The beauty of the human race is that we are all different and some will fight with words and some with violence we just have to hope that it all balances out in the end. Children go to war because they feel and are raised to believe that it is their duty to their country, yet like the Vietnam war they went not really knowing the purpose for it or why they were even their. I found it amusing in a way he refers to army recruiters as “recruiters for the business of death”, there is a need for a military if only to maintain peace. I may not personally see the need for all the wars or our participation in them, yet the need for a military presence is still there. Hammil to me seemed a little narrow minded in that sense and not as open minded to the concept of maintaining order in society for our own sake.

 One aspect in the essay I agreed with is that not all poets are good, moral people, take Kenneth “mad dog” McKenna, the serial killer who wrote and published poetry, so does that make the poems not really poetry in the sense of the word because it was written by a monster? But is that not what Hammil wants? He believes that we should communicate through poetry not violence, but in my opinion any poetry written by a serial killer would be devoid of any aesthetic value so to call it “poetry” is an offense to poets everywhere. I give respect to poets such as Edgar Alan Poe and Emily Dickinson who wrote some poetry focusing on the darker side of life but writing about being a killer and being one are two different things.

Below you can find a link to Kenneth "mad dog" McKenna's poem "Beneath the blood red moon", so you can judge for yourself if it has any value as "poetry"

Kenneth McKenna Poem